U.S. skeptical of governor’s 5-year Futenma limit request

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima’s idea to stop operations at the MCAS Futenma does not get much sympathy on the U.S. side.

Citing “technical difficulties, ” U.S. government officials stated in a written answer to Mikio Shimoji, the head of an Okinawan regional party Sozo and a former member of the House of Representatives on a visit to the U.S. that they see very little possibility that the MCAS Futenma would cease operations in five years as requested by Nakaima. The main reason cited was that the construction of the agreed-on replacement facilities in Henoko have hardly started.

Instead, the U.S. said in its reply that it would be willing to consider other concrete measures including transferring more training to other locations in order to reduce the noise.